Afghan government floats special corruption court

Clinton's remarks came during an interview with George Stephanopolous, the host of the ABC Sunday talk show "This Week":

I have made it clear that we're not going to be providing any civilian aid to Afghanistan unless we have a certification that if it goes into the Afghan government in any form, that we're going to have ministries that we can hold accountable. We are expecting there to be a major crimes tribunal, an anti-corruption commission established and functioning because there does have to be actions by the government of Afghanistan against those who have taken advantage of the money that has poured into Afghanistan in the last eight years...

Clinton's remarks seemed aimed at tamping down concerns about corruption raised last week by U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry. Two of Eikenberry's leaked diplomatic cables suggested that he had serious doubts about a troop increase, which could number up to 40,000, due to Karzai's inefficient and corrupt government, which poses a major obstacle to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's counterinsurgency approach.

The United States' integrated civilian-military plan for Afghanistan, signed by McChrystal and Eikenbery, sets as a "priority objective" for the next year one "high profile" conviction, presumably of a government official, under the country's illicit finance and public corruption laws. The plan calls this a "'nexus' conviction," in reference to the confluence of Afghanistan's narcotics trade, the insurgency and corruption in government.

On paper, Afghanistan offers an embarrassment of riches for such a prosecution. The biggest fish might be Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who's been tied to the country's flourishing opium trade (and was recently outed by the New York Times as a possible Central Intelligence Agency asset). Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim, a former defense minister and currently one of Hamid Karzai's two vice presidents, has also been tied to narcotics.

Then there's Abdul Rashid Dostum, former mujahideen and Afghan army commander in chief, and Karim Khalili, Karzai's other vice president. The charges against Dostum and Khalili have revolved around war crimes, not drug dealing, so they might not fall into the "nexus" described in U.S. plans.

The bigger problem with all four men, and likely a large number of other potential targets, is that many have worked for the U.S. before and have been on the payroll of the C.I.A., both during the Soviet war in the 1980s and after Sept. 11, 2001.

Earlier this month, Karzai waffled when speaking to the Independent about whether he would fire officials for corruption, but acknowledged the problem exists in his government and said, "We will do our best through all possible means to eliminate that dark stain from our clothes." But the AFP, reporting on the special corruption courts, says that Karzai recently told a U.S. interviewer "individuals who are involved in corruption will have no place in the government."

It would be very problematic for Karzai to try to unilaterally sack warlords to whom he owes his election, and who probably wouldn't think twice about utilizing their ethnic bases of support to incite violence in response. The courts floated by Attorney General Alako could give him a way out. According to the AFP, Alako said one court would be established for ministerial officials, while one would deal with lower-ranking officers. Under Afghanistan's constitution, apparently, ministers cannot be tried by the regular judicial system. Alako also said he has a list of senior officials suspected of taking bribes, but declined to reveal their names.

Yet another reason why the situation there seems so intractable.